As far as the blades go for sharpening, unless you hit something you're not supposed to, they are easy to re sharpen by just taking (or re directing) the bur edge that develops on the blade. Think of auger blades like your fleshing knife. Periodically you just straighten the curl out off the edge. This is the same thing with auger blades I've found. Just a little light honing to straighten the cutting edge back straight is most often all that's needed to cut like new again.